Hey sportsfans! So I recently (finally) adopted a beautiful Norwegian Elkhound mix pup named Lady. Now the shelter was nice enough to leave with me the martingale collar and tags. Problem is though I highly doubt it's comfortable for her, especially since she has to shake after every walk and may be rubbing a patch on her neck bald (no marks) which I suspect she is scratching too since I see no fleas or mite damage. I was wondering what is or could be the best collar for a medium sized short haired dog? Before you ask, the collar she has isn't too tight, and the nylon onw I have is too big. Thank you in advance
Congratulations on the new addition!
For walking a dog I'm not familiar with, I actually prefer a martingale collar, for the "no-slip" benefits. Since she is new to you and you don't know if anything might startle her and make her try to slip out, it may not be a bad idea to continue to use it at least as a back up for walks for a while. They're also my favorite for dogs that may try to slip collars, as IMO they tend to be the most benign and effective anti-escape collar if fitted correctly. I usually recommend flat collars for all the time though, with the martingale only when being walked/supervised.
If you want to use it as a back up but not have the martingale action come into play unless needed, you can either use 2 leashes, or put the martingale toward the base of her neck and a flat collar above it, with the leash clip hooked to both. The static ring on the flat collar will keep the martingale from tightening unless the dog begins to pull the flat collar over their head.
For flat collars, I like leather for collars best, and if her skin is sensitive, a rolled leather collar might be best to avoid coat/skin wear. Nylon tends to be pretty rough on the coat, but you can get ones lined with various soft materials (satin, fleece, etc) that would help with that aspect. Another thing I would recommend having had a dog with super sensitive skin is to check any hardware that may come in contact with the skin/coat to make sure it's not likely to rub. I prefer flat buckle collars with the D ring at the end because it keeps the hardware off the skin, or ones with a slide only tend to be fairly non-problematic unless your dog has a reaction to the metal itself.
It's possible she may not be too used to having a collar on, as many shelters don't leave collars on dogs in kennels (particularly shared kennels) due to safety risk. Or it could be the collar causing the itching, worth it to try a few different things to see if it helps
